Registration Now Open to Perform in ‘Bridge to Joy’ Concert

The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center (JACCC) announced registration is open for individuals to participate in the Bridge to Joy Concert, a community-based presentation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, “Ode to Joy.”

The performance will be held on Friday, July 28, 2017 at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

“Bridge to Joy will illuminate voices from Southern California to Japan and connect our two countries through the power of music and community,” says JACCC President and CEO Leslie A. Ito. “Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony has become a symbol of peace, friendship and humanity. In Japan, more than 200 performances take place each year. We are honored to assemble this community-based choir in 2017 to share love and compassion through singing, especially at time when our country needs it most.”

JACCC is producing the concert in cooperation with the L.A. Daiku Association (one interpretation of “Daiku” in Japanese is “No. 9”), Jeffrey Bernstein, Pasadena Master Chorale artistic and executive director and L.A. Daiku music director, the Japan America Society of Southern California, and the Japan Business Association of Southern California.

The 300-member choir will include Daiku singers from Japan, the Southern California Choral Federation, and the All-Japan Association of Daiku Choral Societies for an evening of unity and friendship through music. In addition to “Ode to Joy”, singers will have the option to learn and perform Beethoven’s “Choral Fantasy,” the concert’s opening number.

Individuals interested in building music fellowship and singing in this extraordinary concert are encouraged to sign up before for the first joint rehearsal scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 22, at JACCC’s Aratani Theatre.

“To sing the Ninth Symphony, to raise one’s voice with hundreds of others in Beethoven’s exuberant message of brotherhood is a profound and joyous experience,” says Bernstein. “The Bridge to Joy concert gives hundreds of choral singers in Southern California the opportunity to sing this great masterwork with a superb professional orchestra in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, one of the finest halls in the world. This is a chance not to be missed!”

Information on how to register and participate as a member of the choir can be found at http://JACCC.org/bridgetojoy or by calling (213) 628-2725.

(Note: This story was originally posted with the wrong photo. We regret the error.)